Is it just the scales or am I fatter than before?

[Anonymous]

I've been diating for a month now, and last week I started running 4 times a week (I run about 1.5km).

2 days ago I went on the scales and it said I had lost no weight at all and this morning the scales showed that I gained weight, when in fact I've been eating really healthy food and in really small amounts.

I feel thinner and my neck, waist and hips as well as my stomach show that I lost some weight in this last month.

Is it just the scales that is running out of battery or being stupid or am I really gaining weight ?

[Ingrid422]

It could be at least 2 things. First thing, you're retaining water. This happens sometimes when you start eating more fruit and vegetables. If you're eating significantly higher amounts than your body is used to, it can make you bloated. This has happened to me before. It's very frustrating of course, because who the hell wants to see the scale go up when compromising tasty foods in favour of healthy foods.

Other possibility: You're not eating enough. If you're working out more than your body is used to, your body metabolism will go much faster, requiring more food on a daily basis. Right now you probably don't workout at an intensity high enough for that, but the result might be the same if your body isn't used to training regularly. Anyway, when that happens, if you don't feed your body enough calories, it's gonna cling on to everything you feed it. That's why, of course, you wouldn't be losing weight.

And of course, it might be also that you're replacing your food with healthier foods which do not satisfy your hunger or taste buds as much, which leads you to eating more. Ex: cake is satisfying after the first bite. A plate full of plain veggies may not, leading you to eat the whole thing, a huge salad, a yogourt and a granola bar to feel satisfied.

And the last thing to consider is that running of a daily basis makes your metabolism really fast - abnormally fast - because it's pure cardio. You need a lot of carbs to provide to your body. It's hard to handle, being hungry all the time, and a lot of times it leads an unexperimented runner to overeating and oversnacking because he/she is always hungry. That's the most difficult thing to deal with when doing cardio on a daily basis. Doing strength training, on the other hand, doesn't really increase the appetite IMO.

And also, if you were thin as a stick before working out, you could have gained muscle from it. But I'm not so sure about that considering that you're running really short distances. People tend to jump to the "muscle weighs more than fat" conclusion way too fast. Muscle doesn't build quicky with low intensity training.

[Asker]

How much should I eat for breakfast? Because I'm never hungry in the morning so I never eat breakfast and I'm so busy I don't really have time to eat or drink anything during the day. What can I do to change that? Thank you by the way :)

[Ingrid422]

I'm kinda the opposite. I used to feel nauseated in the morning when I was a kid, never wanting to eat before going to school, but now I eat a big breakfast every single day without fail. Working out makes my metabolism fast, so I tend to feel hungry even I go to bed. The result is that I am starving when I get up, so I eat quite a bit. I can't do otherwise, or else I'm starving again at 9, 10, 11 AM and I end up snacking my way to lunch every hour or so.

[Ingrid422]

Here's what I eat for breakfast usually.

Today:

- Whole wheat bagel. A slice was spreaded with homemade raspberry jam, the other slice with cream cheese, with a half sliced banana sandwiched in the middle. Coffee

If I have time, I juice myself a fresh 250 ml orange juice.

Other idea:

- one slice of whole grain bread (with as much fiber and protein as possible). Spead some nut butter (1-2 tbspoons max), slice a half banana. If still hungry, add a SMALL bowl of cereal with berries.

[Ingrid422]

I try to make my breakfast as satisfying as possible to keep myself from snacking too much in the morning. I eat original cream cheese because I don't like the texture and taste of the reduce-fat one. I eat nut butter even though it's high in fat because it's good fat, it fills me up and it's tasty. I drink juice despite it being high in calories and sugar because it gives me an energy boost and it's tasty. I don't see the point in eating the strictest breakfast if it's not even satistifying.

[Asker]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I'm one of those people, I eat a lot during lunch and dinner but not breakfast and I kinda snack in between meals. I drink a lot of coffee (2-3 cups a day) and I drink about 1.5L of water everyday, I can't drink the full 2 liters that we are supposed to have every day. Tuesday and Thursday are my busiest days and so I don't really have time for breakfast and I have no time to eat until 4 -5 in the afternoon. Is that bad?

[Ingrid422]

Usually, you're "supposed" to eat the biggest meal for breakfast, then a big lunch, and a small dinner. When snacking often up to dinner, it leads me to eating less for dinner, because I don't get as hungry until then. Snacking in between meals isn't bad when you're eating good stuff. I'm not a nutritionist but I'm sure none would argue that eating some carrots with hummus, a yogurt, a fruit or some nuts as a snack doesn't harm. If it helps to control your cravings, it's better than eating some

[Ingrid422]

crap food and stuffing your face as your meal. Drinking coffee IMO isn't terrible. When I'm not used to it, it leaves me dehydrated and that causes bloating. The same thing when you eat a lot of salty foods - your body retains water to dilute the salt you're eaten. And I think that the 2L a day is just a number. The way you can tell if you're drinking enough water is by the color of your pee. I'm serious. If it's clear, it means you're drinking too much. If it's dark yellow, it means your body

[Ingrid422]

is flushing a lot of toxins (I think). Normally, you'd try to make it as light as possible. And if you don't pee a lot, it means your body is retaining water for the above reasons. I think your eating habbits ont Tuesday and Thursday are bad only if you overeat or snack too much on the wrong foods. It's not healthy for sure, but it's not gonna put your body into starvation mode just for half a day. It's more likely to slow your metabolism down. I'd suggest you carry a banana to work/school on

[Ingrid422]

those days. A granola/nut bar works great too, like Kind brand bars. Just grab and go. And you can try carrying a bit of trail mix with you in a container, too. It's easy. If you have time on Monday night, you can even make yourself a 1-2 servings of smoothie with some greek yogurt and frozen fruit, put it in the fridge, and on Tuesday morning, put it in a thermos and bring it with you. It'd make a good snack. Do the same on Thursday. And if you're really short on time a Clif bar would work too.

[Asker]

Thank you once again, you are helping me so much. I think the biggest part of trying to lose weight is learning what to eat. I always thought that not eating was the solution, but I guess I was wrong. How long would you say it will take me to lose the weight with the healthy eating and the exercise?

[Ingrid422]

Depends how much you "have" to lose. Personally I don't have weight to lose, maybe just fat to slim on certain areas. I wish I had a different figure, but I'm at my natural weight, so I can't really expect to lose more than 5 pounds on exercising and healthy eating (I'm 125-130 pounds and 5'7"). If you're at this point, you might have the same problem. I don't suggest eating less than you're hungry. Everytime I've tried that, I ended up depriving myself, feeling in control but disatisfied,

[Ingrid422]

ending up losing 3-4 pounds tops, and I'd gain it all back within a few days of eating normally again. It's always water weight, when you're already down to a healthy weight. It usually only works on those that have a lot more to lose. To go from 143 to 125, it took me a few months. I've been mainting it ever since. The closer you get to a healthy weight, the longer it takes to lose pounds. 143 to 135 was easy. 135 to 130 was harder, 130 to 125 is a daily struggle and below 125 is impossible :S

[Asker]

I am 136 and I want to be about 125 - 121

[Ingrid422]

What's your height? For my height, going down to 130 can be done with the plain deal - exercice and OK eating. It wouldn't take more than a few weeks. Going down to 125 though is way harder personally. Every body has its "confortable" weight that it doesn't like to go below of. Mine is like.. 127 pounds. I've gone down to 125 on and off. I even went down to 123, but that honestly didn't make a noticeable different in my figure whatsoever. It's more of a bloat difference. To lose 5-10 pounds, I'd

[Ingrid422]

suggest you up your exercice a little if you're capable of doing more. You see, I doubt that running 1,5 km takes you very long. Definateley not an hour, unless you walk. An hour of exercice IMO is enough to lose a fair amount of weight when exercising 4-5 times a week. But working out 20 minutes a day sometimes doesn't make a big difference. It just ends up making you hungrier, thus eating more and not losing weight because the exercice isn't very intense. And the other thing is not doing the

[Ingrid422]

same exercice all over again. Your body will get used to it and plateau. Mine does that even with 5-6 trainings a week and intense cardio. No matter the intensity, if your body gets used to what you're putting it through, you're less likely to lose weight. If I had the time and motivation, I'd do something way different everyday - not only running, but varying workouts DVDs and routines, trying stuff I've never done before. THAT is the best way to get results and not plateau.

[Asker]

I'm 5"3, should I start lifting some weights then or should I just stick to cardio? It takes me about 13 minutes to run 1.5km, but I do take breaks in between

[Ingrid422]

I think cardio will give you quicker results to go down a little above your goal weight. When it comes to losing those very last pounds, cardio won't be enough. If you only do strength training right now, you're gonna be sore for sure but you're not gonna burn a lot of calories as you would with cardio. And doing cardio will get you in better overall shape, thus giving you the ability to lift weights and follow an effective routine. At your current stage, I'd go for cardio.

[Catie101]

make sure you are stepping on the scale at the same time of day preferably in the morning after going to the washroom and before eating anything. now, your weight can fluctuate due to the amount of water your body is holding onto (the more water you drink, the less your body will hold). also keep in mind your weight will fluctuate a bit with your menstrual cycle.

stepping on the scale more than once a week isn't ideal either. you should focus more on your measurements and how you look in the mirror. the scale is only half the story. it can't see muscle definition or how small of a waist you have. muscle weighs more than fat so use your judgement on how you are doing and only use the scale as only a guide.

[kheserthorpe]

First of all, unless you are weighting in for a sport (like I am in a few weeks, fml ... back to you ;) ) you probably don't actually want to lose weight.

You want to be thinner, not lighter, am I right?

Measurements matter much more then the scale in this case.

The scale might be dying, but is also influenced by:

- water weight, in a major way. Depending on what I've eaten I can move my water weight around by 5-8 lbs. Professional fighters sometimes lose 20+ lbs of water weight, stand on a scale, then put it all back into their body for the fight the next day. Women retain water before their period, etc.

- muscle changes. Muscle is much more dense then fat, that is, a 'handful' of muscle weighs as much as many, many handfuls of fat. So if you add a bit of muscle, and lose quite a bit of fat, you can be slimmer but heavier.

BTW, the calorie burn from running 1.5 km is pretty small. Its -good- for you. How long do you run?

Real world studies have shown diet + resistance work was associated with the most weight loss. diet + aerobic was barely better then diet alone. There are good health benefits to aerobic exercise, but unless you're doing a LOT it doesn't make a big dent in weight (though it has some impact). Resistance work helps maintain metabolism and preserve lean mass which is something you want.

Congratulations on the fat loss (from the slimmer waist!).

[Asker]

I wanna be able to look in the mirror and not see back fat and stomach fat. I don't have much fat but I hate looking at it. I run for about 13 minutes because it's all I can take, before last week I never did any exercise in my life at all because I hate it. Thanks :)

[kheserthorpe]

Good for you!

If you want to stick with aerobics, might I suggest the couch to 5k program? I think you'll be on a path to getting more health benefits out of it, at the very least.

If you want to add some resistance work, let me know your budget (I'm thinking is it 0, or is it 40 bucks) and I could suggest something.

[Asker]

Thanks :) I want an exercise that won't cost much. I'm going for a run because I thought it was the best type of workout.

[kheserthorpe]

If I was going to mix it up, I'd do a few days of running (try couch to 5k ... basic idea is you are going to target doing 30 minutes of exercise. Right now it will be a mix of jogging and walking, and you're going to phase out the walking till you're jogging 5k/3 miles in 30 minutes). and a few days of kettlebell swings. Need a fairly heavy kettle though.

[Asker]

yeah I'll definitely try that :) thank you

[Anonymous]

Eating healthy is not how you lose weight. You have to eat healthy, but you have to watch your calories as well.

3000 calories a day even if it is pure healthy food, will make you fat.

600 calories a day, will destroy your metabolism. Your body will start eating it's own muscle tissue to stay alive. The less muscle you have, the slower your metabolic rate becomes, the easier it is to store fat.

If you're eating right and exercising, then don't worry about daily fluctuations in your weight. Track your weight at the same time every day, over weeks. You should see an overall downward trend.

[Asker]

I eat less than 1500 calories per day, my goal is to lose my stomach fat until the 26th of June

[aMuse]

Your weight fluctuates throughout every day as you eat, drink, and go to the bathroom. That's why you are suppose to weigh yourself at the same time every day like in the morning after you go to the bathroom. You will also fluctuate several pounds up and down throughout the week, this is why most people shoot for a pound a week. You might be like 122 on Monday 125 some on Wednesday, 123 on Thursday, but by the next Monday you are 120 and you end up dropping 2 pounds over a week. It's pretty normal for the body to do that. If you weigh yourself every day at the same time and record it, you'll notice the fluctuation up and down but over several weeks it will be apparent if you have a downwards trend or an upwards trend in your weight.

[lace1228]

Don't worry what the scale says. The best indicator your body is changing is how your clothes fit. Sometimes people lose inches which is fat turning into muscle. A good thing. So if your clothes are still fitting or getting looser then take that as a good thing.

[Ragnarok21]

Muscle by volume weighs more than fat. you probably gained 2 pounds of muscle and lost two pounds of fat. This is not unusual at all, the trick is to not be discouraged. You're making progress, as you go on you'll realize its harder and harder to make progress, at least that's how it was from me. I lost 40 pounds on one summer and 10 pounds the next summer.

[Anonymous]

Your body is just undergoing changes.

If you started running 4 times a week, you'll notice you'll lose shape after a month or so.

[Asker]

I run 1.5km so that's about 13-15 minutes a day (taking breaks in between) because I can't run any longer. I only started exercising 2 weeks ago and before then I never did any sport because I hate it. Do you think that the amount of running that I am doing is good enough or should I do more?

[scnbabe89]

The scale tells it all so ide trust it. I just lost 30 pounds and not by starving myself. Explain to me what your doing and ill try to help you.

[Asker]

I started eating healthier and running 4 times a week. I don't know what I did for the scale to say that I gained weight.

[scnbabe89]

Mine took the changes eight away but sometimes it takes a little longer for your body to ajust to it. I would not give up yet. How are you eating tell me about a normal day of food.

[Asker]

I eat scrambled eggs + coffee for breakfast, for lunch I usually have a salad but on Tuesday and Thursday I'm so busy, I don't have time to eat until 4-5 in the afternoon. I usually eat a big dinner like lasagna or ravioli. During the day I eat fruit and I drink a lot of water. I drink about 2 cups of coffee per day (sometimes even more)

[scnbabe89]

Your first two meals are good but dinner is where your problem lies sounds like your eating too much for dinner and only bad carbs. You can have a nice dinner but watch your portions and stay far away from those carbs. I cut down carbs a lot especially at dinner those two things are especially the worst.

[Anonymous]

You probably gained muscle and muscle weighs more than fat.

[Realme7u]

You may be lossing from neck belly m accumulating on butt thighs n boobs..